Monday, 21 May 2012

Hitler’s Angel by William Osborne

He had to get to England. It was now or never. The
smoke was all around him, acrid cordite and sulphurous petrol. He kept on
running, every breath a sharp stab in the chest. He had to keep going, had to
reach the water’s edge, had to get beyond the burning vehicles and the dead and
dying men on the beach.

Goodreads Summary:

Otto and Leni
have escaped to England from Nazi Germany. They thought they were safe, but now
the British want them to go back. Dropped behind enemy lines, they embark on a
secret operation codenamed Wolfsangel. Their mission is to find and kidnap a
girl who could bring down Hitler And so begins their bravest journey yet.

************

William Osborne is a Hollywood scriptwriter during
the day, and it shows in this fast-paced wartime adventure. The explosive
opening on the beach at Dunkirk sets the tone for the rest of the novel and
there is plenty of high-stakes drama to follow. We get thrilling chases, tense
near-misses and a mass of complications for our two spies ‘Otto’ & ‘Leni’.

I
was particularly taken by the strength and boldness of the girl protagonist and
how first one and then the other junior spy takes charge of the mission. Their
developing relationship with another character (whom I can’t name so I won’t
spoil the plot) gave a more rounded feel to the basic adventure story.

It would be only fair to warn younger or more
sensitive readers that there is a good deal of violence in the story. It has to
be there because of the plot, but some may find it upsetting.

A
bonus feature is a short but interesting section of historical notes. They are
best read afterwards as there is a spoiler element – but they do give depth to
the book.

You
would really enjoy this if you’re a fan of Robert Muchamore’s Henderson’s Boys
series. It will be interesting to see if our two teen Secret Service agents go
on to further adventures.

8 comments:

I got this book for review a while ago and I'm still not sure whether I'm going to like it or not. I'm not a big fan of historical fiction or...well, history in general *snickers* but I love strong heroines so I'm a bit more positive about it now. Thanks for the review! :)